the original matt & kim video was pretty visually powerful, as was erykah’s. sadly, i don’t feel any connection between the video and the song, in substance or tone. so, i’ve watched it a few times on mute and it makes more sense as a statement unto itself. it feels very self-aware and kind of heavy-handed, but what performance art doesn’t? the jfk connection isn’t subtle, and i imagine if she could’ve flown to jerusalem to walk the stages of the cross, she might have.

conceptually, it touches on a public/private existential liminality thing that reminds me of the radiohead “just” video, where a man decides one day to just lay on a sidewalk, and provokes resistance first from his peers (the community), and then the authorities (the state), kind of playing with the notions of challenging societal norms and constructed authority by just ‘being’ in public space. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5X7HKxpiQA)

anyway, although i love the raw concept of the video, whether M&K’s or EB’s version, i particularly like the ‘rebirth’ image at the end of Erykah’s video, where she kind of re-emerges as a nubian goddess. what a smile…

also of interest to me is that both vids are going for a handheld/super-8/lo-fi DIY thing, but both resort to very seemless production-intensive ‘modern’ editing techniques. notice how nobody in the erykah video even looks at her? my sense is the entire thing is composited. in both cases, it seems a disservice to the aesthetic project to execute it with slick editing. that’s just me being picky though.

I hear you. The reference to Sinead O’Connor was an example of someone who did something really risky and ballsy. She took a huge amount of heat for that. Here was a Catholic woman ripping up a photo of the Pope. THAT was brave.

Sorry, but after she’s copped to as much, I don’t believe that Erykah was risking much at all.

]]>By: Daniela Capistranohttp://www.boldaslove.us/2010/04/02/now-on-huffingtonpost-com-window-seat-or-much-badu-about-nothing/#comment-693
Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:23:14 +0000http://69.89.31.151/%7Eboldaslo/?p=106#comment-693I didn’t read it as Badu comparing herself to Kennedy (seeing herself on the same plane). For me, it was about context.

The theme was about assassination – physical, emotional, character, etc.

We risk being “assassinated” when we stand out from the crowd, stand our ground on issues – break away from societal norms and behave “differently.” I think that the Kennedy association was just to make it more relatable – he’s an easily identifiable icon as is the history around what happened to him.

Badu is standing up for freedom of expression, which we like to think we all execute on a daily basis but we don’t. We are constantly compromising our voice, our identity, in some fashion to keep a job, a lover, a friend, etc. In the video, Badu says “fuck it” and just strips everything away – all pretense, all flash, to just be skin. And for one glorious moment, she is just One.

… Then of course, she is shot. She dies. Which I don’t think is meant to be read as a cautionary tale. She’s not saying “don’t be yourself” she is saying “look what WE do to people when they free themselves. Look what we’ve become.”

I think her message is particularly valid right now, when people are so quick to pass on misinformation without bothering to process anything on their own, we’re like RTing anything that is vaguely interesting with only a shallow understanding of the topic.

All this information doesn’t make us smarter. It makes us more scattered, less patient and less willing to do any of our own research.

Badu is calling people out to “look at what we’ve become.” I don’t think she’s asking us to consider her video groundbreaking, but there was definitely an element of risk involved in her making this video. She physically made herself vulnerable, risked scathing reviews, attacks, etc. In our TMZ’d world that may seem like nothing but imagine if people were attacking and judging you. She may be a famous singer but she’s also just a woman who is still learning more about the world around her and sharing her ideas.

All this to say, I liked the video and I’m glad she made it. Frankly, I thought your reference to the whole “rip up the picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live” was unwarranted and not relatable. That may have been shocking and risky on some levels but had Sinead been a black woman I doubt she would still have a career right now.

]]>By: ayindehttp://www.boldaslove.us/2010/04/02/now-on-huffingtonpost-com-window-seat-or-much-badu-about-nothing/#comment-692
Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:13:39 +0000http://69.89.31.151/%7Eboldaslo/?p=106#comment-692yeah you know I forgot about that Shinead vs the pope thing. that was balls! like no other. and she still pays for it. well said
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